Editorial: A big step in the fight against Alzheimer's disease

Photo by Charles Dharapak / Associated PressRep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., holds up a copy of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease as Country singer Glen Campbell, who has Alzheimer's disease, second left, stands with his wife Kim, left, and Harry Johns, CEO of the Alzheimer's Association, right, at during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 15, 2012.(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

The Obama administration is stepping up its fight to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease with its launch of an international multi-million-dollar drug trial that will test whether the antibody Crenezumab can prevent the disease in healthy people who are genetically predestined to develop the mind-robbing affliction at an early age.

The ambitious research study is the first major announcement since January when the administration adopted a National Alzheimer’s Plan and set 2025 as a deadline for developing effective treatments for the devastating brain disorder that impairs memory, thinking and behavior while placing a crushing burden on the patients and caregivers it touches.

While some Americans will be among the research subjects, the study will focus primarily on members of an extended family in Colombia who carry a rare genetic mutation that causes them to develop cognitive impairment around the age of 45 and full-blown dementia by 51.

The study, which will involve 300 subjecs, is being mostly financed by drug maker Genetech and will cost more than $100 million. The National Institutes of Health and the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, which will lead the study, are also contributing.

Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said the study comes at “an exceptional moment” with new discoveries about Alzheimer’s being made in the last few months and years.

We applaud this major health initiative. With 5.4 million Americans already diagnosed with Alzheimer’s – a number expected to swell to 16 million by 2025 – it is a ticking time bomb. Defusing it would be a gift for the entire world.